Hooked on the Most Surprising Thing.....

You won't believe what I found when I pulled up the rug in this kitchen........

After lifting this heavy duty glass door, the spiral staircase had me hooked! It was leading me to the most amazing thing. What a great idea this spiral cellar is, for those of you who have quite the collection. I myself have a small collection of just 20 or so bottles.....This would be perfect for those days when you just want to run away.

These Spiral Cellars are tapping into that primal romanticism, the same sort that led us to build forts out of blankets and chairs and progress to treehouses with "Keep Out" signs as we got older. The only difference is that this cellar design has a rather more grownup function.

The Spiral Cellar system was developed in 1978 by a Frenchman who saw that few modern houses had wine cellars, but that people still needed a place to store their wine. If a wine-lover has a serious collection it can quickly outgrow wine racks and refrigerator units. So he came up with the Spiral Cellar design, which uses the earth to insulate and create good storage conditions. It does this, however, in a fraction of the space of a regular cellar. It also can maintain a constant temperature with no power required.

A spiral cellar is dug into the floor by a professional team, and the cellar storage itself is created from concrete wrapped in a watertight lining. Passive ventilation keeps the temperature around 55°, an ideal temperature for wine storage. There are several sizes, holding from 1000-1600 bottles.

Of course, this is one indulgence for wealthy or well-off wine drinkers only. The Spiral Cellar purchase and installation runs at least $30,000. One site reported that there is an option to buy a kit and install the cellar yourself, but we can't find this on their current site; it may not be offered anymore. This cellar price, though, is still much cheaper than installing a full-blown, climate controlled wine cellar in the basement.

I'm hooked on this, are you too? Come join me with Julia at Hooked on Houses, to see what others are hooked on. Or check out FiFi with Fashionable Fridays, because I believe this is very fashionable!